BUSINESSINMAURITIUS

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E-Commerce

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General Information

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Registering Property

The ease with which businesses can secure rights to property is shown below. Included are the number of steps, time, and cost involved in registering property.

Indicator	Mauritius	Region	OECD

Procedures (number)	6	7.0	4.9

Duration (days)	210	104.6	28.0
Cost (% of property value)	10.8	11.1	4.6

Getting Credit

Measures on credit information sharing and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders are shown below. The Legal Rights Index ranges from 0-10, with higher scores indicating that those laws are better designed to expand access to credit. The Credit Information Index measures the scope, access and quality of credit information available through public registries or private bureaus. It ranges from 0-6, with higher values indicating that more credit information is available from a public registry or private bureau.

Indicator	Mauritius	Region	OECD

Legal Rights Index	5	4.0	6.4

Credit Information Index	1	1.3	4.8
Public registry coverage (% adults)	38.6	2.1	8.6
Private bureau coverage (% adults)	0.0	4.5	59.3

Protecting Investors

The indicators below describe three dimensions of investor protection: transparency of transactions (Extent of Disclosure Index), liability for self-dealing (Extent of Director Liability Index), shareholders ability to sue officers and directors for misconduct (Ease of Shareholder Suits Index) and Strength of Investor Protection Index. The indexes vary between 0 and 10, with higher values indicating greater disclosure, greater liability of directors, greater powers of shareholders to challenge the transaction, and better investor protection.

Indicator	Mauritius	Region	OECD

Disclosure Index	6	4.7	6.4

Director Liability Index	8	3.1	5.1
Shareholder Suits Index	9	5.0	6.5
Investor Protection Index	7.7	4.3	6.0

Paying Taxes

The data below shows the tax that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures of the administrative burden in paying taxes. These measures include the number of payments an entrepreneur must make; the number of hours spent preparing, filing, and paying; and the percentage of their profits they must pay in taxes.

Indicator	Mauritius	Region	OECD

Payments (number)	7	38.7	15.1

Time (hours)	161	321.2	183.3
Profit tax (%)	10.8	21.4	20.0
Labor tax and contributions (%)	3.6	13.3	22.8
Other taxes (%)	7.3	33.3	3.4
Total tax rate (% profit)	21.7	68.0	46.2

Trading Across Borders

The costs and procedures involved in importing and exporting a standardized shipment of goods are detailed under this topic. Every official procedure involved is recorded - starting from the final contractual agreement between the two parties, and ending with the delivery of the goods.

Indicator	Mauritius	Region	OECD

Documents for export (number)	5	8.1	4.5

Time for export (days)	17	35.6	9.8
Cost to export (US$ per container)	728	1,660.1	905.0
Documents for import (number)	6	9.0	5.0
Time for import (days)	16	43.7	10.4
Cost to import (US$ per container)	673	1,985.9	986.1

Enforcing Contracts

The ease or difficulty of enforcing commercial contracts in is measured below. This is determined by following the evolution of a payment dispute and tracking the time, cost, and number of procedures involved from the moment a plaintiff files the lawsuit until actual payment.

Indicator	Mauritius	Region	OECD

Procedures (number)	37	39.4	31.3

Duration (days)	750	643.0	443.3
Cost (% of claim)	17.4	48.7	17.7

Closing a Business

The time and cost required to resolve bankruptcies is shown below. The data identifies weaknesses in existing bankruptcy law and the main procedural and administrative bottlenecks in the bankruptcy process. The recovery rate, expressed in terms of how many cents on the dollar claimants recover from the insolvent firm, is also shown.

Indicator	Mauritius	Region	OECD

Time (years)	1.7	3.4	1.3

Cost (% of income per capita)	15	20.0	7.5
Recovery rate (cents on the dollar)	34.3	17.1	74.1

E-Commerce

	Mauritius E-Commerce Legislation

	Electronic Transactions Act - ETA

	Mauritius Facilities

	Mauritius Offshore Activities

Mauritius E-Commerce Legislation

The key piece of e-commerce legislation in Mauritius is the Electronic Transactions Act 2000. Other important laws are:
The Information Technology (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act - Dec 1998; Telecommunications Act - Dec 1998; and the Copyright Act - Sep 1997.
'The setting up of the appropriate legal framework,' says the Government, 'is essential for Mauritius to position itself to exploit the new opportunities of Electronic Commerce and enable our enterprises to participate more actively in the emerging global economy. E-commerce experience in other countries has demonstrated how important the legal infrastructure is as a foundation and catalyst to the development and acceptance of e-commerce. The Electronic Transactions Act (ETA) removes legal obstacles and establishes a more secure legal framework for business and governments to function in an environment of trust.'

The provisions made to enable government to adapt its own administrative procedures and processes to enable the e-government also demonstrate the commitment of the Mauritian government to the creation of an environment of trust where companies can feel safe and secure in conducting their online business.